Blog

The latest figures reveal that there are approximately 40 million people living in modern slavery worldwide. According to the International Labour Organisation, 25 million people are trapped in forced labour while children account for 10 million of the overall total. Interestingly, modern slavery used to be perceived as an issue that existed in third world countries, when numerous investigations proved it’s a worldwide problem.

Modern slavery sometimes called forced labour or human trafficking is where victims are controlled, forced, coerced or deceived and exploited for a profit by another person. Traffickers restrict victims in their movement, unlawfully withhold their wages and/or passport, and/or use threats or violence in order for the victims to perform work. Sometimes victims are forced to work to pay off an excessive amount of debt whilst being paid little to no wages.

What is the UK Modern Slavery Act?

The Modern Slavery Act requires all UK businesses (and those headquartered or registered outside the UK, but who conduct business in the UK) with a turnover of over £36 million to annually publish a statement on their website. This statement is to detail what they are doing to tackle modern slavery in their organisation, including in their supply chain. The first statements will be published in October 2016 to cover the 2015/2016 financial year. Similar legislation already exists in France, Switzerland and the United States.

The purpose of the 4th Modern Slavery &Human Rights in Supply Chain Conference is to equip businesses with actionable insights and a good understanding of how the issues of forced labour and human rights abuse can be eradicated from their supply chain.

The Conference will provide a sufficiently distinctive, collaborative and solution-packed two-day agenda. You are guaranteed focussed corporate learning at its best through practical case studies, interactive roundtable discussions and open Q&As.

Led by the world’s top brands, you will hear from seniorsupply chain, compliance, and sustainability practitioners alongside leading policymakers, including;

Norton Rose Fulbright, Partner, Milana Chamberlain

UK Parliament House of Commons, Co-chair of APPG Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, Vernon Coaker